Heavenly Sword launch 'unaffected' by PAL PS3 delay

British developer Ninja Theory has confirmed PlayStation 3-exclusive fighter Heavenly Sword as a "launch window" release during a Game Developer Conference presentation in London, although the game will not make it out in America before the end of the year.

"We've always been a launch window title so it hasn't affected us at all," said Nina Kristensen, Ninja Theory's co-founder, answering a question on how Sony's PlayStation 3 delay in Europe had affected the release of the game.

"No, it's going to be next year," said Guy Midgley lead animator, speaking of the game's American launch, "but we haven't announced a specific date yet."

The presentation generally centred on the development of the game's extensive combat system, showing software used to compile what look to be intricate combat routines.

"We needed to do one-on-one combat, group combat and army combat," said lead programmer SaiTong Man. "Our main inspiration was Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur... Our hero has three stances, but we decided to make each enemy a different stance. This makes the player think about the stance they need to be in to survive the encounter."

Much was shown of wire-frame combat, the presentation culminating in the most recent trailer made for the game.